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Google's Standalone VR Headset – Dead or Alive?

Google may have killed development of a Oculus Rift-style dedicated VR headset.

Rather than requiring a mobile device to work – like Cardboard, and headsets powered by the forthcoming Daydream platform – this device would run on its own OS, separate to Android. Rumours of a standalone Google headset first emerged in February, but when Google announced Daydream at I/O in May, it seemed clear that the company was more interested in mobile-based VR solutions.

According to Recode, the 50-strong team working on this project has been disbanded.

However, Engadget reports that Google is still 'actively assigning' staff to work on a standalone VR headset, with AR elements, that won't require a mobile device or PC to run. Confusingly, though, this may actually be a second project which has continued uninterrupted while another has been shuttered.

Either way, Engadget cites team members who claim to have been briefed that Daydream is not Google's 'long-term plan for virtual and augmented reality' but the next step towards dedicated hardware.